Finishing a marathon can be an emotional experience at the best of times but when you have run through grief to honour a friend and completed your own cancer journey, those feelings can be heightened.

Several members of Bermuda’s running community wore their hearts on their sleeves in Boston on Monday, with Rose-Anna Hoey completing a first marathon after finishing treatment for breast cancer and Anna Laura Hocking and Gabriela Martin helping to pay homage to Emma Norman, who died of cancer last month at the age of 33.

For Hoey the marathon provided the opportunity to put a full stop on her personal battle after doctors advised her that she is now free of cancer.

“It was definitely a very special one and it was really emotional,” Hoey said.

“With everything that happened I told myself this would be the end of it all, I could press reset on things and get on with my life again.

“Last year I lost my best friend quite suddenly to a brain aneurysm and I couldn’t go and be with her in her last few days because I couldn’t travel as I was sick myself and on chemotherapy.

“I also lost another friend, Emma Norman, recently and I told myself I just wanted to be thankful and grateful for being able to do it. I ran it for them and every time I ran a mile that was tough, I kept telling myself that I was doing it for them. I didn’t have time expectations, I wasn’t nervous, I just wanted to go and do it, complete it and celebrate actually being able to do it.”

Hoey is starting to raise funds for a cold capping machine, which helps people with cancer try to preserve their hair, with her traumatic experience informing the importance of giving women dignity through their ordeal.

“That is the one thing that is incredibly depersonalising about the whole thing,” Hoey said.

“Even now my hair hasn’t grown back so every time I look in the mirror it reminds me of what happened to me. My friend Megan also had breast cancer last year and she was able to go over to the States for her chemotherapy and was able to have cold capping.

"She was able to retain 60 to 70 per cent of her hair and still looked like herself whereas I looked like cancer and that’s what people thought when they looked at me.

“I wore head coverings and wigs, and I still do that, but it’s almost like a stamp on you that this is who you are, that you are a cancer patient. I have a young son and when I lost my hair it was traumatising for a child to see their parent going through that.

“One of the saddest things that happened was my husband was shaving my head and my little boy came in and was trying to clean up, it was so traumatising, so if we can raise some money and try to help other people not go through that, it would be wonderful.”

Anna Laura Hocking was also thinking of Norman as she crossed the line to complete her 25th marathon.

“Last year she was here cheering me on from the sidelines, she was a fellow runner and she just lost her battle to cancer, so it was really quite emotional,” Hocking said.

“Boston is always special but I definitely ran this one with heart and it got me through those tough times. This was my sixth Boston marathon and it’s just such a special race.

“It’s a holiday, Patriot’s Day, in Boston and because it’s a smaller city, the town, the suburbs, everybody gets behind the race. Also due to the unfortunate events in 2013 of the bombing, it emotionally grew and the Boston Strong movement really bonded the city and the whole route is lined with fans.”

Hocking’s 25th marathon is far from being her last with her next one scheduled for the summer.

“My next marathon goal is to do the seven continents,” she said. “I’ve done every continent, including Antarctica, except for Australia, so I’m actually doing Sydney in August and I will have ticked that off my bucket list.”

Gabriela Martin, who only took up marathon running in 2019 to win a bet with her boyfriend, is another friend of Norman’s and admits to shedding a tear or two after completing the marathon.

“Emma really took life by the horns and I know her mother quite well through running,” she said.

“This race has so much meaning now, she really fought hard and she was always up for another race. She would have been so proud of all of us tackling this because it’s a tough race with a lot of hills and it has you questioning your life choices. She would have been so proud of us and we all ran with tears in our eyes for her.”

Martins has now completed the big six with Boston joining Berlin, Tokyo, Chicago, New York and London and received a commemorative star upon completion.

“Boston is the runners’ marathon,” she said. “It’s a really iconic marathon and the crowds were really supportive. It was a wonderful experience and I really wouldn’t trade it for the world.”